Zuo Zongtang was a man who could do it at will. After half a month of preparation, he chose two capable and reliable guards who were both civil and military as secret bodyguards. The group of three pretended to be the owner and follower of Changsha Antique Calligraphy and Painting Store. He ignored the pleading of the governor Luo Bingzhang and rushed directly from Changsha to Guangzhou.

Moreover, this person is a master of the art, and he doesn't even want a guide who is familiar with the situation in Guangdong. First, he can't find a suitable person in Hunan where the World of the World Association of Dasha. Second, Zuo Zongtang knew that Haisong had a large number of spies, and an organization called the Propaganda Department. He had caught several such people in the Hunan Army. He was very good at Guangdong, but he might be spies. Third, as a "great" Qing official, he was most afraid of rebels, and secondly, he was most afraid of the people. In his eyes, the people were all unreliable. Now that hair is everywhere, there are traitors everywhere. If he finds an unfamiliar Guangdong guide, he might sell them all to Changmao when he arrives.

Moreover, going from Hunan to Guangzhou is not a silence. There are a lot of smuggling activities between the two. Otherwise, where did the opium, clocks, music boxes, glassware, and even Western guns in the tobacco shops opened by relatives of Changsha? They were all smuggled from Guangdong! And every day, many "traitors" and unlucky people sneaked into the long-haired Guangdong's opium smuggled goods from Hunan officers and soldiers, or just to escape famine and make a living.

Zuo Zongtang has dealt with such a bad guy, and is familiar with his colleagues from Hunan to Guangdong. He knows that as long as he leaves the Qing army's checkpoint, as long as he doesn't say that I am a Qing army on his forehead, he basically just goes away in Guangdong. The long-haired leader Zhao Kuo is completely different from his leader Hong Xiuquan. He seems to be not afraid of the Qing spies who have been peeping over.

Of course, the efficiency of the Qing Dynasty spies was often very low. Very few people knew how to collect information. Many of them used their funds to smuggle opium. The information they got was not as high as that of the merchants. Zuo Zongtang was very dissatisfied with this, but he had no choice but to do anything about it.

This time, this energetic Qing official personally acted as a detective and went deep into the tiger.

It was very safe along the way, and I encountered several long-haired inspections. But it was not strict, and I didn't even care about the few knives brought by Zuo Zongtang's guard. In addition, Zuo Zongtang said it without leaking, so people waved their hands and let it go, and soon arrived at Guangzhou along the waterway.

After spending a sleepless night in Guangzhou, Zuo Zongtang got up early in the morning. His two subordinates learned to observe their words and expressions in the officialdom. After calling the boss back to wash water and breakfast, Li Yuan whispered: "Shopkeeper, have you not slept well? Is the weather too stuffy or too many mosquitoes?"

Zuo Zongtang sighed, took out the stack of product quotations under the pillow and folded them carefully and put them in the rattan box, and then said, "I don't understand why the raw silk tea sitting across the corner of the street can be said "Thank you, Master" in English, French and Chinese language. The streets are crowded and noisy, just like the port.

But another word is undoubtedly prosperity--this city under Changmao was more chaotic than the Qing Dynasty, but more prosperous than any one.

"Boss, buy a gun to defend yourself? Come in and take a look? It doesn't matter if you don't buy it!" Zuo Zongtang and the other two walked on Haijing Street in sweat, their eyes wide open. Suddenly, a guy jumped out of a store and shouted.

"Gun?" Zuo Zongtang and the other two were stunned.

"Gun! Good gun!" The guy was wearing a pair of twin-breasted cloth clothes, smiling, and pointed to the store and shouted: "This store is a proxy for guns from major companies in Britain, France, the United States, Prussia and Austria. The warranty is half a year, and you can also purchase it on behalf of others."

Zuo Zongtang looked in the direction of his finger and gasped. The shop was filled with rows of guns against the wall, which was simply an arsenal.

For a moment, Zuo Zongtang didn't know what to say. He was shocked and stared at him and entered the store without saying a word.

It's indeed an arsenal!

In addition to the three rows of guns full of against the wall, the wooden table in the center was covered with red velvet, with more than a dozen pistols and two long spears on it.

"What kind of gun do the boss want to buy? Long spear? Short spear? Breeze? Hunting? Or self-defense? Good-looking? Or easy to use?" The guy said with a smile on his face.

"You allow you to buy and sell firearms here?" Zuo Zongtang asked with sweat and stared at the guy.

"It's the first time I'm here in Guangdong. Haha." The guy laughed: "It must be a casual deal, otherwise how could my store appear in front of you?"

"Your Emperor Zhao Ziwei allowed it?" Zuo Zongtang couldn't even close his mouth.

"You don't allow people to buy in Guangdong. People go to Hong Kong and Macau to buy the same land! Can you control it? And you pay the tax to foreigners when buying and selling in Hong Kong. Our emperor is smart, except for cannons, and you can sell guns at will. But you can buy cannons. I'll contact you for people from foreign foreign companies in Hong Kong, charge some contact fees, and don't allow delivery. You go to Hong Kong to pick up the goods and transport them yourself, hehe." The guy smiled and asked, ""

"Everyone of you has a gun, isn't that the world turmoil?" Zuo Zongtang continued to ask.

"Now, the world is in chaos, and the Qing Dynasty is about to perish. Wars are everywhere. What's the point of being a gun?" The guy laughed.

"But there is no war in Guangzhou. Everyone has guns and will not be messed up?"

"What's the mess?" The guy glared: "Now the owner of the small grocery stall has guns, how dare you rob them? Tell you, the gangs are no longer able to do it now. In the past, you used to join the gang to protect them, but now you buy a good gun with the money to join the association. The same thing, who bullies you, reveal the gun. The other party is afraid." The guy said: "The bosses are obviously from outside. Don't cause trouble in Guangdong, there are guns everywhere here. Be polite and make money, haha. Where are the bosses? What are they doing in Guangdong?"

"We are here in Hunan. We come here to do business." Zuo Zongtang explained with a smile, but his heart was overwhelmed: Zhao Ziwei is too crazy! It is a death sentence for privately making cold weapons, swords and guns in the Qing Dynasty. They are actually buying and selling war weapons and muskets here!

"Hunan, then you have to buy a gun. Hunan is too messy!" the guy said with a smile.

"What? How is Hunan chaos?" Li Yuan took his hand back from a brown besie. He also pressed his shocked heart back to his chest, and heard this strange sentence: Hunan chaos? Hunan is the source of turmoil!

The guy said seriously: "You must buy it, because Hunan is still under the Qing Dynasty. Not only are there too many corrupt officials, but they also left the fortress of Shaozhou, Lianzhou. As soon as they arrived in Hunan, there were bandits everywhere. How can you not guard against your business? The bandits were shot and destroyed! And you are the old nest of the Hunan Army. Have you ever seen the Hunan Army? **Chaos and kills all kinds of evil, they have ruined Jiangxi some time ago."

"Where did you hear it?" Zuo Zongtang and his servant were dumbfounded at the same time.

"There are foreign journalists in the army in the newspaper: After the great victory of Ganzhou, the Crusaders and the Hunan Army fought fiercely until they drove the Hunan Army out of most parts of Jiangxi. It is said that most of the villages and towns in the Hunan Army were burned and killed and robbed. The funny thing is that when they escaped from the same road, they burned and killed the town first, but they could not find a place to guard the crusades and find food to eat. The Crusaders stepped on the dead bodies all the way. Haha." The guy said and picked up a rifle and asked, "Look at this, the new French goods are very far away, and I will send ammunition. More than 10% off!"

But Zuo Zongtang and the other two were stunned by what the guy said. These words were simply musket shooting. Li Yuan gritted his teeth and took a step forward, looked at the guy's eyes and said, "You are talking nonsense! This is a rumor!"

Zuo Zongtang reached out to pull Li Yuan and was still one step slower.

Zhang Longtan touched the dagger handle on his back, his eyes were always staring at the young man and the curtain door behind him, but his mouth was close to Zuo Zongtang's ear and said, "Be careful of the enemy."

However, the guy was startled by Li Yuan, stunned for a moment, and suddenly laughed: "I understand, I understand, haha." The laughter made Zuo Zongtang's three spies furious. Li Yuan retreated, but turned his body, swept his eyes outside the door, thinking that if there was anything, he would kill someone and run away.

"The Hunan Army is from Hunan. Hunan people like the Hunan Army. The Hunan Army will definitely not burn its own nest, right?" The guy nodded and said.

"Yes, yes, yes. The guy is right, the soldiers." Zuo Zongtang smiled: "You crusaders won't burn and kill Guangdong."

"Just call me Xiao Pan. That's for sure. What gun do you want to buy?" Xiao Pan asked with a smile.

"You introduce it to me, starting from the most expensive one! Okay, I will bring two guns." Zuo Zongtang said in a deep voice, he wanted to see Hai Song's goods.

The three words in the middle obviously looked like a dose of opium. Xiao Pan's body shook obviously, and a layer of blush appeared on his face. He rubbed his hands and said, "I heard you are also a cheerful person, okay!"

As he said that, he picked up a gun from Red Velvet and said, "Look at this Sharps single-shot breech rifle, an authentic American product, hitting far away, within one mile, you can shoot whatever you see! Have you ever heard of a hundred-step piercing breeze?"

Xiao Pan skillfully operated the gun and demonstrated it to three Hunan spies who were fully focused on watching it, shouting: "Use a bow and arrow to penetrate Yang with a hundred steps. If you have practiced for 100 years, only one of ten thousand people will be released! But if you buy this gun and practice it for a few days, even if you are disabled or a woman, holding this gun in your hand will immediately be even better than an archer! One shot is over and half of your head is lifted! When the bandits see it, they will definitely run fast, and no one dares to mess with you!"

"You blow, what gun can shoot a mile away? How far can the gun be raised? How far can the cannon be fired? And why is this thing loaded from the back? How can it be installed?" Li Yuan was familiar with weapons. Although he had seen such a gun for the first time, he was a little unbelievable.

"Blow? Let me tell you, does Ding Yuzhan know that his birdies were all Sharps. As soon as the pirate ship came, he didn't use the deck platoon to hit the ground. From a distance, he could lift the pirate leader's head off with one shot."

"How much money?" Li Yuan behind him couldn't help but ask first.

After hearing the price question, Xiao Pan looked at the three of them again and said with a smile: "This is the treasure of our store. I just got off the ship yesterday. If you want, please get 500 taels and give you ten boxes of customized ammunition..."

"500 taels?!!! Are you selling guns or cannons?" Zuo Zongtang and the other two shivered and almost fell Sharps to the ground.

"It's worth comparing." Xiao Pan said without haste, pointing at the guns all over the wall: "This kind of gun is the best. It can be shot far and accurately, and it can be operated by children without filling the borehole."

As he said that, he lifted two spears from the base of the wall and said, "Look at this British brown beth front gun, it is cheap, it takes away for a few taels of silver, which is similar to a fire stick. And the French Minnie gun is very cheap. But you are not in the army, and you can't play barrage together with hundreds or thousands of people. When you come here, can you fight? Do you have time to get on the bullet?"

He threw down the brown besiege and lifted a revolver on the ground on the red cloth: "This gun is good for self-defense. But it is close to it. It is a smoothbore gun, and the six bullet boxes need to be loaded in advance. And if the charge is wrong, it may blow up your hand."

Then I lifted another spear at my feet and said, "This is the Prussian Dresses firing gun, which is filled with breezes, but the precise shooting can only be shot 200 steps. I will give you 20 taels cheaper. Why is it so much different? Because it is really not as good as Sharps."

"Can you test the gun?" With Zhang Longtan's wealth, he really didn't take 500 taels seriously. He was determined to verify whether the gun was as powerful as the legend.

"Okay, I'll pay the money. I'll find someone to drive you to the riverside behind to test the gun. The ammunition is also traded there." Xiao Pan smiled and pointed to the back.

But Zuo Zongtang was not thinking about the so-called hundred-step piercing gun. He looked at the brown besieged that was still in the corner of the wall with disdain by Xiao Pan, but his eyes lit up. He threw Sharps into Li Yuan's hand, walked over, picked up the British brown besieged gun, and smiled: Is this the kind of gun that the Great Song Dynasty High-Hat Crusader?"

"That's right. You know the goods." Xiao Pan was stunned for a moment and smiled, "You want to buy a gun and practice it to join the army, right?"

"They still use this now, they all bought it from the British, right?" Zuo Zongtang looked at the arms shop guy and covered with information.

"Yes, they must be bought from foreigners, but I heard recently that they need to change into a batch." Xiao Pan said, turning around and pulling two guns from the most common ones on the wall and putting them on the red cloth and said: "This is a French Minnie-style front-mounted smoothbore gun. The Army wants to change this. This is actually not bad. French goods, bargain price. If you buy Sharps, I will give you two Minnie."

"You said the Army wanted to change to this kind of French one? Why? Are you sure?" Zuo Zongtang's eyes became even smaller.

Xiao Pan looked at Zuo Zongtang and sneered, saying, "I know how to read newspapers. Moreover, I am a firearm expert. Many of the army are my good friends, such as Liu Yongfu and my fellow villager. We drank together a few days ago. Sometimes we also took up military work, repaired their weapons and suppressed ammunition. I know the best things in the army."

Xiao Pan continued: "This Minnie style is a French team-style equipment area. It is more powerful than the old British brown besse, and the bullets are more powerful and the price is cheaper. The smoothbore gun consumes so quickly. Of course, the emperor has to change it." Xiao Pan seemed to be determined to sell Sharps and explained tirelessly: "If the brown besse hits the arm, it may be a fracture. If this gun hits you in the same distance, it can directly knock half of your arm away!"

This made the three spies sweat all over their heads

"And the emperor and Napoleon III are good friends. They have to buy friends even if they buy weapons. They won't lie to you or hack you. Just like us, I've started a business with your gun. If you have any problems, come to me and I'll repair it for you. Next time I want to buy it, I'll come to me. Take this name, which has the address and my name on it. The second time I come, I'll give you a 15% discount, a fellow villager in Hunan." As he said that, Xiao Pan took out a piece of oil paper from the cabinet and handed it to the three of them.

"It's cheaper." Li Yuan, a soldier, had a bit of a way to see the gun, and Zuo Zongtang wanted to buy the two Minnie guns without showing any silence to study them.

Three people bargained, and finally sold Sharps at 350 taels, and Xiao Pan also gave the two French Minnis.

"We just walk on the street with guns like this, can we do it?" Zuo Zongtang came to such a crazy city for the first time. After all, the ones wearing swords on the streets of Manqing were either yamen runners or adults, and he was very worried.

"Unless you want to fight the sheriff one-on-one. When you hold the gun, you hear someone around you shouting loudly and stop moving quickly, otherwise the sheriff will shoot immediately." Xiao Pan started a business and continued enthusiastically: "It's better to put the gun in the bag and not let them see it, because the sheriff will definitely check your identity. But don't worry, as long as it's not a bandit or pirate, it's okay. I'll find you a package."

After buying the gun, he talked with Xiao Pan for a long time. Seeing that this guy couldn't say anything, the three spies put the gun in the package and left directly. Zuo Zongtang saved even the gun test and did not allow Li Yuan and the other two to try the gun happily, because they bought the gun not for self-defense, but for collecting intelligence. He stood on the street, trying to stop a carriage, send the gun back to the inn, and then continued to wander around Haijing.

But the three of them walked out with their packages and didn't walk far away. Someone suddenly asked loudly behind them, "Did you buy a gun?"

Suddenly, Xiao Pan taught them the sheriff's examination. Zuo Zongtang's three servants stood on the street like stones and did not dare to move. They were sweating all over. Li Yuan only felt that his neck was as hard as iron. He wanted to turn his head to see who it was but not dared. Zhang Longtan only felt that the dagger in his waist was like an iron bar tugged at his waist like an iron bar. The sweat on his back flowed up his thighs along the hard thing. He wanted to touch it, but his arms kept calling.
Chapter completed!